Daily blood tests for all critically ill patients deemed unnecessary

Intensive care unit doctors at St. Paul’s Hospital have done away with daily routine blood tests on patients without affecting the quality of care, simply by challenging a long-held dictum that those who are critically ill need to have blood drawn that frequently.

The prize-winning study of the widely accepted hospital habit shows that the number of tests can be reduced “to lower costs and free up nurses and lab personnel for more important things,” according to Dr. Peter Dodek, the intensive care specialist who supervised a group of five internal medicine residents in the study.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/Daily+blood+tests+critically+patients+deemed+unnecessary/8122574/story.html#ixzz2OEdAevtI